Kennedy Agyapong addressed teeming supporters over the weekend at a gathering dubbed, THE SHOW DOWN WALK.
The speech was to round off a fitness walk through parts of Accra, as he drummed support for his candidature.
Known for his blunt nature, the Assin North lawmaker and New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful spoke his mind and, in the process, made some hard admissions about the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government’s failings.
Agyapong spoke about his suitability for the flagbearer post which will be decided in a November 4 vote between himself and three others.
GhanaWeb’s tracking of his SHOW DOWN WALK speech picked out five anti-government jabs. They as presented below:
NPP lost election 2024 in 2022
Agyapong claimed in his address that the NPP lost the 2024 election in 2022 citing depreciation of the cedi and the impact of the Domestic Debt Exchange programme which wiped away savings of the middle class and pensioners.
“We lost the 2024 elections in 2022. At the time the Ghana cedi destroyed the hard work of many businessmen, all the way to the tomato seller. Ghanaians will never forget that.
“The time the middle class went to court because their monies were lost, and the time the pensioners had their monies gone, Ghanaians will remember that,” he stated.
Slots in police being sold to party people
“You are a delegate, they’ve asked us to be mute but I will speak, because if your child is going to look for a job and you can be asked to bring 10,000 cedis before your child would be recruited into the police…
“These same people are coming to you seeking your votes, so that your children remain jobless,” Agyapong jabbed without addressing the specific persons he was referring to as “they.”
He went on to tout his own record in the area of job creation, stressing that he stood tall among the other NPP flagbearer aspirants.
Ghana needs pragmatic leaders not theorists and talkers
“If Ghana will prosper, it needs pragmatic leaders not theorists who bombard you with big English repeatedly even when you are poor.
“We need a local language speaking leader who will speak in clear terms and also work to ensure you have money in your pocket,” Agyapong said stressing that as a businessman and politician he had the perfect leadership traits and balance to turn Ghana around.
Misuse of resources led us to IMF
“God has blessed us with so much that if we took proper care of them, there would be no need to go to the foreigners for help,” he stated.
This is a veiled jab at government’s current programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which programme has delivered a first tranche of US$600m out of a US$3 billion bailout.
Youth unemployment is rising
“Ghanaians are ready to give Kennedy Agyapong a chance, the onus is now on New Patriotic Party (NPP) members to elect Ken Agyapong to rescue Ghana for young people to get jobs.
“A country with a youth who have a bleak future is no country,” he stated in a speech that was punctuated with his jobs record and how he would tackle unemployment.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com